I've already complained about him elsewhere. He was so bloated, clumsy, and easily defeated I have a hard time believing one of his underlings wouldn't have dethroned him long ago.

I liked Radagast! If he had only kept the bird-stuff under his hat it wouldn't have been so distracting. Speaking of distracted, McCoy would have been better off playing Radagast as easily distracted rather than forgetful. It fits more with a character who spends all of his time around jittery creatures.

I also tired of pipe-weed jokes after LotR, but I can't blame Radagast for Saruman's lame mushroom insult.

You are comparing the wizard Gandalf and his elven sword to a goblin underling.

Radagast would have been better played as a dedicated, single-minded wizard with a keen intellect and self-purpose who will NOT be distracted from his own interests than a daft drug addict from Alice In Wonderland. i.e. More like Bombadil with a strong personality than Sylvester McCoy playing the fool.

But Azog is probably my least favorite. I was never particularly awed by Lurtz/Gothmog/other Orc baddies from LOTR, but I think Azog's CGI-ness detracts from his menace a little bit. They should've just dressed someone up like an Orc. Not a big deal though really...

I didn't have a problem with Radagast, the various goofy dwarves, etc.

It burnssss us to watch him precious. I've watched AUJ three times. Every time I hate Azog more. But not in a "love to hate" way as a good villain should be. The entire story arc with Azog screams the cliché "revenge of the villain". I understand the need for a main antagonist, but PJ could have done better than this. At least Bolg looks promising.

seemed like a pretty generic villain and I think the writers mentioned that his arc was expanded due to the decison to divide it into 3.In LotR,for me Lurtz worked because he was always presented in the context of Saruman,as a mini-boss kind of villain,he was never established as a major threat,therefore the audience never expected for him to be fully-fleshed out.Azog should stand on his own,as he is a major antagonist of the first film and there's nothing about him that really stands out.He made the conclusion more effective and added to Thorin's character,but he should've been more than just a plot device,given his supposed importance to the story.

As for Radagast,I though he was brilliant(stick insect notwithstanding) , and you could definitely see his inner Istari,in one brilliant piece of dialogue - "Witchcraft...Oh,but it is.A dark and powerful magic" hauntingly delivered by McCoy,when he completely transforms the character.

Azog was whatever-to-okay (we'll see how he is handled in the other 2 films -- so I will reserve my judgment for now)

But the Great Goblin? His lines made me cringe. "...Which makes you... nobody, really" sounds so modern. Seriously -- 'nobody, really?' And everything was wrong with him -- his death seemed violent for some reason, and his fall at the end was bordering on mean-spirited (for me anyway).

I actually thought casting was perfect and liked them all
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My nephew (12) especially thought Azog was cool and the Great Goblin was funny, so those characters don't bother me any. I just wish that the trees didn't topple into each other, if only because I remember the cartoon song "15 birds in five firtrees oh what will we do with those pretty little things" and it always makes me feel nostalgic. But one of my favorite scenes was not in the book, Azog vs Thorin and Bilbo jumping down to help.

My niece (9) asked me if Radagast was crazy, then during the White Council when Saruman was saying Radagast ate too many mushrooms, she turned to me and whispered, "See? I told you! That guy says he's crazy too!" My nephew then whispered to Ariel that "that guy" was actually a bad guy (she's new to LOTR besides her admiration of the "princesses" Arwen and Galadriel and Eowyn) and I tried to hush them and not to laugh at the same time. I didn't want to disturb the others in the audience, but we had such a great time seeing this movie together!

To me, one of my best surprises was that the "hot dwarves" Fili and Kili, who I was prepared to not like, actually fit in perfectly as dwarves with their silly antics and their tough fighting skills and their comradeship. The only dwarf I wasn't so fond of was Ori, because from posts during last year I pictured him as quiet, gentle, and scholarly, and he was instead rather dorky and maybe a bit dim witted. But I hold out hope that I'll grow to like him better.

So, I guess my least favorie was Ori, but I didn't dislike him or anything.